Clothesline pulley



March 9 1926. 1,576,387

A. J. WHELAN CLOTHES LINE PULLEY IVENToR ATTGRN EY WITNESS' v Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

UNITED STA-'Tas '.PArsNr oF AUGUSTIN J. Wannen, or amasar cir-Y, Nnw Innen.

cnornnsnnvn rULLEY.

Application led August The principal object of the invention resides in a means for laying a covering of fabric tape over a clothesline to prevent the soilin of washed clothing-v adapted to be hung thereon to dry, as it will be appreciated that dirt and dust readily accumulates upon the clothes line due to the fact that the line is exposed to the elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for automatically winding the tape about a reel upon longitudinal movement of the clothes line in one direction, when the line is not inten-ded for use.

A further ob`ect is to rovide a combined clothes line pulley and line protector which is simple in construction, cheap of manufacture and easy of operation.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention resides in certain novel construcf Figure d is a vertical transverse sectionall view on the line 4.-4 of Figure 1.

iiti

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5--5 of Figure 1.

It will be appreciated that clothes lines provided in the open are exposed tothe elements and collect dirt and dust which is transferred to the washed clothes when hung thereon to dry. It is therefore the purpose of this invention to apply a covering of :fabric material to the' line to protect the clothing or wash from becoming soiled when hung thereon.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference numeral 10 designates a J. WHnLAN;

`r, 192s. serial-m. 48,866.

1 hanger which is bent from a single piece of materlal to provide spaced parallel side walls 11, and an attaching eye 12 for use in su porting the devicev upon a hook or the li e 13, which 1n turn is secured to a supporting structure. Although I havementioned that the hanger is bent froma single piece ,of material, it will be appreciated that" the hanger may be cast in a single piece if desire Journalled for rotation between the side walls 11 are pulleys 14, there being four such pulleys shown in the drawing .and which are so positioned to provide a loop 1n the endless clothes line 15 and over which pulleys the line passes.. of the pulleys serves to provide space leads The arran ement 16 in the clothes yline and on which the clothes may be hun for drying purposes. A ide 17 extends etween the 51de walls an through which the line or cable passes in its movement from the rear upper pulley to the rear lower pulley.

One ont the side walls 1l is provided with an opening 18 through which a reel of fabric tape 19 ma be inserted and said openin is normally c osed by a removable cover plate 20. Journalled within the cover plate 20 and in the opposed side walls is a shaft 21 to which the reel is iiXedlyconnected in a manner now to be described. The tape is wound on a hollow shaft or spool 22, one end of which is provided with a square recess 23 for receiving a corres ondingly shaped member 24 formed integra? with the shaft 21, it being understood that the shaft 21 passes through the hollow spool or shaftV 22. rIhe side edges of the wound tape frictionally engage the inner walls of the hanger whereby a tension is placed upon the spool of tape to prevent the tape from being too rapidly pald out when applying the same to the clothes line.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the end of the tape is led from' tlie spool to one of the leads of the clothes line and held td the line by a clothespin 24'.. It will now be seen that by moving the clothes line in the directionof the anrow A, the tape will be automatically paid out from the spool and at suitable spaced intervals additional clothes pins may be applied or holding the tape in engagement with the line. The tape is of such width as to cover the top and sides of the line, so

.that the wash hung thereon will not be subjected to vdirect contact with the line.

For the purpose of automatically rewinding the tape when the line is not in use 1 provide a relatively large gear 25 fixed to one end of the shaft 21 and which meshes with a similar gear 26 fixed to a shaft 27- on which one of the pulleys 14 is keyed. The gears are disposed on the outer side of the hanger but are enclosed within a suitable casing 28. It will be seen that when the clothes line is movedin the direction' of the arrow B, the line passing over the pulley-.14 which is fixed to the shaft 27 i' will transmit the rotation to the gear 26 and thence tothe gear 25, thus imparting rotation to the spool in the direction of the arrow C whichcauses the windin ofthe tape. The clothes pinsare remove asthe same move to a position adjacent the hanger, thus holding the tape taut during the winding operation. When the tape has been completely wound, the entire spool is removed from the hanger by removing the coverl plate and withdrawing the spool through the opening 18, as it will be appreciated that it would not ine-advisable to leave Athe spool of tape in the hanger where it will be exposed to dust and dirt.

While I have describedwhat I deem to be the most desirable embodiment of my in' means for paying out said tape to 'cover one of `said leads of the line upon longitudinal movement of said lead inl one direction, and means for automatically Winding said tape upon the spool upon longitudinal movement of said leadin the' opposite direction.

2. In combination with a clothes line, pulley means over whichv the clothesline passes to provide spaced leads, a spool of tape, and

Vmeans for paying out said tape to cover one ing said spool of tape within said hanger 1n alignment with said pulleys for rotation therein, and means for transmitting motion from one of said pulleys to said spool of ape. v, 4. A device of the-class described comprismg a hanger having* an opening in one of the side walls thereof,` spaced pulleys rotatably supported thereby over which an endless cable is adaptedto pass, a removable cover plate for closing said opening, a shaft journalled in one of the side walls of said hanger and said cover plate, a spool of fabric tape removably supported bysaid shaft for rotation therewith, and means for transmitting motion from one-0f said pulleys to said shaft for imparting rotation to sailc spool of tape upon movement of said pu e v In testimony whereof I have affixed my Signature.

AUGUSTIN J vWI-IELAN.

prising a hanger, pulleys journalled therein, aspool of tape, means for removably mount- 

